Ted Leonsis is now facing his biggest setback to date in an already-challenged effort to build a $2 billion arena and mixed-use development in Alexandria, Va., for his Washington Wizards and Capitals.

As Leonsis is seeking roughly $1.5 billion in state-issued bonds from Virginia to help fund the project, a key legislator has declared legislation backing the Monumental Sports and Entertainment plan is “not ready for prime time.” That opposition adds to growing residential resistance and marks the most serious broadside to date.

“The more we use the reputation of the commonwealth to finance billionaires’ projects, the more we risk not being able to finance our own projects,” said L. Louise Lucas, a prominent Virginia state senator and chair of that body’s finance and appropriations committee. Lucas is refusing to stage a hearing on the arena project in her committee, though a separate effort regarding the development remains alive in the Virginia House of Delegates.